Breandán Ó hEithir (18 January 1930 – 26 October 1990) was an Irish writer and broadcaster.
, ''The New York Times'', 25 October 1990.

Biography

He was born in Inis Mór,

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

. His parents were national school teachers, Pádraic Ó hEithir and Delia Ní Fhlaithearta. He attended their school in

Kilronan Cill Rónáin (anglicised as Kilronan) is the main settlement on Inishmore, one of the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland in County Galway. The ferries serving the island call at Doolin, County Clare and also Ros an Mhíl, County Galw ...

. He received his secondary school education at Coláiste Éinde (St Enda's College),

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

. He attended

University College Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 2 ...

for three years but left without obtaining a degree. Ó hEithir wrote in both

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and English, and was highly regarded for the originality and liveliness of his journalism, especially his work in Irish. After college, he spent a number of years working as an itinerant bookseller for

Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge (CNnaG) was the central steering council for a number of organisations involved in the promotion of the Irish language. Its mission was to "strengthen and consolidate goodwill and support for the Irish language ...

. He served as an editor at

Sáirséal agus Dill Sáirséal agus Dill (; "Sarsfield and Dill") was a publisher of Irish-language books based in Dublin, Ireland. History The company was founded in 1945 by Seán Sáirséal Ó hÉigeartaigh (1917–1967) and his wife Bríd Ní Mhaoileoin, with th ...

, the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

publishing house, and as Irish language editor for ''

The Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' (Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 All-Ireland ...

'' from 1957 to 1963; he also wrote a column for ''

The Sunday Press ''The Sunday Press'' was a weekly newspaper published in Ireland from 1949 until 1995. It was launched by Éamon de Valera's Irish Press group following the defeat of his Fianna Fáil party in the 1948 Irish general election. Like its sister n ...

''. He was a regular

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short essay ...

with the journal ''

Comhar ''Comhar'' (; "partnership") is a prominent literary journal in the Irish language, published by the company Comhar Teoranta. It was founded in 1942, and has published work by some of the most notable writers in Irish, including Máirtín Ó Cadha ...

'' and also contributed a weekly column to ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

''. He also served as a staff journalist with Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), working on the current affairs programmes ''Cúrsaí'' and ''Féach''. He married Catherine von Hildebrand in 1957 and they had five children; Ruairí, Máirín, Brian, Aindriú, and Rónán. Catherine was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, the daughter of Deirdre Mulcahy from Sligo and Franz von Hildebrand from Munich, son of the noted philosopher and theologian

Dietrich von Hildebrand Dietrich Richard Alfred von Hildebrand (12 October 1889 – 26 January 1977) was a German Roman Catholic philosopher and religious writer. Hildebrand was called "the twentieth-century Doctor of the Church" by Pope Pius XII. He was a leading ...

. He was a nephew of Aran Islands authors Liam Ó Flaithearta and Tom Maidhc Ó Flaithearta, the brothers of his mother, Delia. A biography of Ó hEithir has been written by Liam Mac Con Iomaire.

Works

* ''

Lig Sinn i gCathú ''Lig Sinn i gCathú'' ( ga, Lead Us Into Temptation) is a novel by the Irish writer Breandán Ó hEithir. Title Its title refers to the Lord's Prayer (or "Our Father"): :forgive us our trespasses, :as we forgive those who trespass against us, ...

'' "Lead us into Temptation" ( Sáirseál Ó Marcaigh, 1976) * ''Willie the Plain Pint agus an Pápa'' (Cló Mercier, 1977) * '' Over the Bar A Personal Relationship with the GAA'' (Ward River Press, 1984) * ''Ciarán Fitzgerald agus Foireann Rugbaí na hÉireann'' (Coiscéim, 1985) * ''The Begrudger's Guide to Irish Politics'' (Poolbeg Press, 1986) * ''This is Ireland'' (

O'Brien Press The O'Brien Press is an Irish publisher of mainly children's fiction and adult non-fiction. History The O'Brien Press was founded in 1973, evolving out of a family-run printing and type-house. Its first publication came in November 1974 and n ...

, 1987) * ''Impressions of Galway'' (Appletree Press Ltd., 1987) * ''Sionnach ar mo Dhuán'' ( Sáirseál Ó Marcaigh, 1988) * ''A Pocket History of Ireland'' (

, 1989) * ''An Nollaig Thiar'' (Poolbeg Press, 1989) * ''An Aran Reader'' (

The Lilliput Press The Lilliput Press is an Irish publishing house. It was founded in 1984 by Antony Farrell, in County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country ...

, 1991)

References

External links

Ó hEithir, Breandán biodata at Ainm.ie
accessed 18 July 2020.

ricorso.net; accessed 18 July 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oheithir, Breandan 1930 births 1990 deaths Alumni of the University of Galway Irish columnists Irish-language writers Irish male novelists Irish newspaper editors Irish male short story writers People educated at Coláiste Éinde People from County Galway RTÉ newsreaders and journalists The Irish Press people The Irish Times people 20th-century Irish novelists 20th-century Irish male writers 20th-century Irish short story writers sv:Irisk litteratur#Breandán Ó hEithir